Tidjelabine, Algeria ? An Islamic party set up a camp Tuesday for people left homeless by Algeria’s devastating earthquake and handed out food and water, showing itself ready to fill the vacuum of aid distribution left by the government.

Since last week’s killer quake, anger has mounted at what survivors said was the slow government response — with townspeople at times pelting visiting senior officials, even the president, with stones or debris.

The interior minister was so angered by jeers from survivors in one town that he threatened to withhold tents and other aid if protests continued, witnesses said. The government later apologized.

But the criticism has provided an opening for Muslim fundamentalists, despite efforts to squeeze them out by the military-backed government, which has battled armed Islamic radicals in a civil war since 1992.

“We want to take charge of families in this village for one or two years until they can be housed again,” said Ahmed Houlim, a member of El-Islah oua El-Irched, an aid group run by a moderate Islamic party.

The May 21 quake killed at least 2,218 people, injured more than 9,000, and left an unknown number missing.

Algerian children run to a truck delivering food and aid in Dellys, Algeria. Algeria's government accuses Islamic groups of offering aid in hopes of gaining political support.

Panic spread again in the quake zone east of the capital, Algiers, when the strongest aftershock yet rocked the region Tuesday, killing at least three people and injuring 187, state radio said.

El-Islah did not hide the fact that it was looking to attract supporters as it set up tents for 13 families whose homes were left in ruins in Tidjelabine, a town of 10,000 near the quake’s epicenter. Some Islah workers wore aprons with their party name and logo displayed on the back.

Houlim, who was overseeing the building of toilets in the camp, said Islah teams were in all quake-hit areas, including hard-hit areas such as Boumerdes and Zemmouri.

“We are much better organized than the state,” he said. “When there are elections, local or presidential, there are candidates in our organization and if people want to vote for them, they should.”

Fearful that fundamentalists could turn that gratitude into political power, the government issued a warning on Monday against “irregular” collection and distribution of donations for quake victims. The government lumps such groups with Islamic insurgents it has been fighting since 1992; 120,000 people have died.

El-Islah is a government-recognized group and not legally a target of the warning.